Monday, July 4, 2011

Party Time with Patty

Missynation traveled to NYC last week for a work training seminar.Since the training was held on a Thursday, Missynation took the following Friday off to hang with her BFF, Patty.Patty lives in Oyster Bay on Long Island, and Missynation got the chance to stay with Patty at the lovely home she shares with her husband, Tom.

Wednesday evening, after I traveled into NYC from DC and then took a Long Island Railroad train out to Long Island, we traveled to have souvlaki at a lovely place right along the beach.It’s too bad it was kinda rainy, or else we could have sat right on the beach and enjoyed our gyros.It was so tasty.I must say, I’m a little disappointed at the lack of tasty Greek places in DC.I’ve found a few really good kabob places where I can get hummus and dolmas in a pinch, but so far, I haven’t been able to find any Greek places. LSo, I was particularly excited to enjoy what the Souvlaki Palace had to offer.

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Tasty Chicken Gyros

After I completed the training session, much fun was had.Missynation got the chance to visit not one, but 2, count ‘em, TWO authentic Long Island diners!!!We had dinner at one, a two-story diner, that was quite a sight to behold.I ordered “Long Island’s Best” mac-n-cheese that ended up being enough to feed a small army.

Long Island's "best" mac-n-cheese (notice the fork for scale)

The next morning, we visited another diner where I enjoyed breakfast.I ordered the Apple ‘n Cinnamon pancakes that came with eggs, sausage, ham AND bacon (like I needed that much food…) and the world’s smallest OJ.

World's Smallest OJ (sweet 'n low added for scale)

Ridiculous amount of food...

After our filling breakfast at the diner, we headed out to Jones Beach State Park.I will admit that, before my tour of Long Island, I thought Long Island was all just industrial parks and crammed row houses.However, Jones Beach was really pretty.There is a lovely boardwalk that runs for (seemingly) miles along the beach and I saw several folks out walking and running, even in the rainy weather.

Some birds chillaxin' at Jones Beach

Rainy morning at Jones Beach State Park

Before I left to take the LIRR back to NYC for my return trip to DC, Patty & I enjoyed a manicure/pedicure together.I was so excited because this was the first time in over 2 years that I’ve been able to have a mani/pedi with my friend in person.(Often times I will chat on the phone with her while getting my toenails gussied up, but nothing compares to the joy of being able to sit next to my friend and relax while we shoot the breeze.)

Pedicure with Patty!

I ended up enjoying a very relaxing and fun time hanging with my friend in Long Island.